STREET SCENE : Coming Attractions

By BETTY GOODWIN

July 31, 1992 12 AM PT

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Women in Los Angeles always manage to devise their own way of exuding cool, and sooner or later the looks they invent appear on the top fashion runways, in music videos and on the big and small screens.

Three top costume designers--who make it their business to know how women put themselves together--keep abreast of trends by keeping their eye on the streets.

Ellen Mirojnick (“Basic Instinct,” “Fatal Attraction,” “Wall Street”); Louise Frogley (“Three Men and a Little Lady,” “Bull Durham”); and Dianne Anthony Kennedy (“Beverly Hills, 90210”) were asked to pick the trends they like best from the summer of ’92.

The spots they say are best for trend-watching include Sunset Plaza, Melrose Avenue, sidewalk cafes in West Hollywood and the once-a-week farmers market in Santa Monica.

For Mirojnick the best new looks are built around jeans, belts and anything sleeveless.

“Girls in L. A. know how to wear jeans,” says Mirojnick. “I suppose it’s because the body is as well-worked as it is, but they hang perfectly off the waist and hip bones. They look like they’ve owned them for a long time. And they look relaxed,” she says.

“They always add a good belt, and whether they wear flats, boots, even little heels or sneakers, there’s a great sense of style. I’ve also seen some white denim shirts that look fabo with white jeans. I like blue jeans with cotton man-tailored white shirts that aren’t tight fitting.” Louise Frogley likes ‘40s-inspired slightly fitted dresses, with buttons or zippers. They are worn knee-length or mid-calf. “Not short-short-short.”

“There’s not a lot of this look around, but it’s great and it’s very much what they’re wearing in France. You see some of these dresses at Madeleine Gallay and American Rag--the closest you can get to Les Halles ,” she adds of the La Brea clothing store. She’s also seen them in department stores. Another retro variation she likes are delicate ‘40s blouses with baggy, men’s army shorts, “like the women of the French Resistance.”

Dianne Anthony Kennedy is the curmudgeon of the group (“I don’t think most of the people I see have mirrors in their houses”). She does like platforms--as long as they “blend” with an outfit. “Skin-tone is best, otherwise they tend to look like strapped-on two-by-fours.”

All three agree on the worst look of summer: “Those long printed baggy dresses in ugly prints. Every other person owns one,” says Mirojnick.